


Art Class Is A Strange Class

by Nancy_Jean



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Height Differences, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 07:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3759478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nancy_Jean/pseuds/Nancy_Jean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco is new and he doesn't know where anything is and when the teacher sent him to look for pencils, he found something else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Art Class Is A Strange Class

**Author's Note:**

> Jean is a short, angry, lazy smart-ass and Marco is a gentle giant.

      "Hey, uh, new kid!" Hange called out from the desk she was sitting at. Marco looked up from his sketch to see what his new teacher needed from him. She stared hard at him, here eye brows furrowed. For a second, he'd thought he'd done something wrong. "No, don't tell me... I got it... M... Mar... Marco! Marco! That's you're name." She laughed. "Jeez, I almost didn't remember there for a sec. Hey, uh, there's a cupboard full of pencils back in the back room and I feel like I can trust you- can I trust you?" She raised here eyebrows at him.

      "U-uh, Yes! Yes ma-"

      "Good!" She interrupted with a big smile. "I knew I had good character judgement. Any way. Cupboard. Pencils. Back room. Can you grab me a pack?"

      "Yes ma'am." he stood up from his seat, grateful he could get out of that seat that his legs were just  _a little_ bit too long for.

      "And stop with that ' _ma'am_ ' business. Just call me Hange" she laughed.

      "Y-yes.. er.. Hange." He walked away, embarrassed, towards the back room.

      He had too many nerves to actually ask her  _where_ in the back room the pencils were, so he just kinda poked around, hoping he wasn't getting into the wrong stuff. He looked everywhere he could think of, but he wasn't finding them any where.

      He finally took to looking in the top cupboards because maybe that's why she'd asked him, since he's so tall. He fished around in one after another and then on the last one, he felt like this was it. This is where the pencils were gonna be-

      Marco took a step back. There was definitely something in there-- just not the pencils.

      It was a kid.

      "Shh," he'd glanced up at Marco from his phone screen. "Can't you see I'm hiding here?" His voice was a quiet, angry whisper. His brows were pointed down so far that Marco couldn't actually see his eyes with the darkness that encased the boy.

      "U-uhm.." Marco whispered. He was beginning to panic.  _'What is happening?_ '' "What... what are you hiding from? Exactly?"

      "Han-bitch," The boy replied in a hiss. Marco was taken aback by the rude comment to the teacher. "Man, I just need a break."

      "Oh. Well, uh," Marco's started talking before Jean put a finger to his lips in a 'shh'ing gesture. "Uh... do you know where I can find the... the pencils?" He whispered this time.

      "Oh yeah uh..." he looked around him before handing over a green pack of pencils. "Don't tell her I'm in here, kay?" He asked. Marco nodded before gently shutting the door.

      That was by far the...  _weirdest_ thing that has ever happened to Marco. He didn't know what to think of it.

      As he walked back out into the main art room, his teacher was yelling out to the group of kids.

      "Yo, have any of you guys seen  _Jean_ anywhere?" She asked. "I swear I saw him earlier but he disappeared." She scratched her head and looked around the room.

      Everyone shrugged and looked around. Marco quietly set the pencils on her desk and turned to walk away.

      "You seen him, gentle giant?" She asked and Marco turned back around to face her.

      "M-me?" He asked, his voice raising with his eyebrows as his thumb flew to his chest.

      "Yes you," she laughed. "You seen him? He's kinda short, grumpy looking kid. Got mouse-brown hair on top of his head and a dark brown undercut."

      "O-oh, uhm.." He paused.  _That must've been the kid in the cupboard..._ "N-no ma- er, I mean.. uh... Hange. No Hange. I haven't seen any where, I don't think."

      "Hey, uh," a blonde girl piped up from the table where Marco had been sitting prior to his errand. "I thought I saw him wander into the back room at the beginning of class. I thought he was running an errand for you. You didn't see him?" She looked quizzically at Marco. Anxiety flourished in his chest and it tightened, forcing the air out of his lungs.

      "Uhm... No. Just.. just the pencils," He laughed as he headed back to the table and sat. He put his head down, feeling his face burn hot at embarrassment. He hoped no one was looking at him.

      "I'll go get him," the taller girl of the two at his table stood up and walked into the back room.

      Not but 30 seconds later there was some shouting coming from the back room. It was too muffled for Marco to understand it, but he looked back at Hange who had a massive amused grin on her face.

      "That's my girl," she mumbled. The blonde girl across from Marco giggled.

      A couple seconds later, the tall one returned with the boy from the cupboard in tow, dragging him by his arm.

      "Let go of me, you freckled giant!" He yelled, his face red with anger. Marco sank down low in to his seat.  _He's gonna blame me for telling._

     "Jean!" Hange yelled and the tall girl dropped the boy into the seat next to Marco, who tensed up the second he hit the chair. "You've decided to join the party! Grab a paper from the middle of the table and start drawing!"

      " _You decided to join the party,_ " Jean mocked the teacher quietly. It didn't stop her from hearing him though. The remark earned him a dry eraser to the back of his head. The small girl across from him giggled.

      Jean angrily grabbed a paper and a pencil and quietly started sketching on it. Angry mumbles came out of his mouth every so often.

      "Don't mind him," the tall girl said to Marco. "He's got anger issues." He glared up at her and she returned with an even meaner one, forcing him to look back down at his paper and continue to grumble about dumb school and  _why do I gotta draw any way, I ain't good at it_. "I'm Ymir," the girl said extending a hand out for Marco to shake. "And this," she tilted her head to the blonde girl next to her. "Is Krista, but you're welcome to call her Krissy." Marco nodded, shooting a small, warm smile at Krista. "Either works."

      "Marco," he said quietly.

      "Nice to meet you!" Krista said happily. "As you may have guessed, this is Jean." She said looking at the boy next to Marco. He glanced up between all of them, landing on Marco. He stared at him fro a second before returning to his paper. "He just acts all rough and tough, but I promise, he's real nice once you get to know him. You just gotta get past all the cool guy act." Jean continued to draw silently.

      "Hey," Ymir nodded at Marco's paper. On it was drawing he'd done quickly of a tree next to a park bench in front of a lake. "You're really good. Where'd you learn to draw?" Krista leaned over to get a better look at the paper and Jean glanced up to see it too. He paused, took a couple glances between Marco's paper and his own, and finally settled on his own, hunching further over it.

      "Oh, my older sister taught me." He said, smiling down at the drawing. "She was really good and I asked her to give me a couple of lessons."

      "You're real good!" Krista mimicked Ymir's remark from before.

      "Thank you," Marco said quietly, a warm smile creeping onto his face.

      After that, the table went silent, all of them returning to their work. Krista and Ymir exchanged a few words here and there.

      "Hey," Jean said quietly and Marco looked down to see Jean still looking at his paper. "You didn't tell 'em where I was, did you?" He asked.

      "N-no," Marco whispered back, eyes going wide and face flushing red. Jean looked up at him and a small smirk slid onto his face.

      "Thanks." He looked back down at his paper. "Kinda figured. Ymir always knows where to find me anyway." Marco looked up at Ymir who shot a smug smile their way before returning to her work. "You are."

      "I... I am... what?" Marco asked, confused.

      "Good, I mean." Jean realized he'd been very general in his statement. "A-at drawing. You're good at drawing." He laughed and ran a hand through his already messy hair. "I'm not the best." Marco glanced down at Jean's paper and... well...

      He was trying...?

      Marco smiled. "You have the potential to be good." Jean looked up at him. "I noticed that you rush a bit. Back up from the paper, stop being embarrassed about your work, and take you time. You'll get better."

      Just then the bell rang and Jean shot up from his seat and rushed out the door. Marco took his time, gathering everything up and making sure he had all of his stuff before leaving for lunch.

      _Lunch._

     Shit, he didn't know where he was gonna go for lunch. It was open campus but he had no idea what was around or in his price range. He began to feel anxiety running up his spine again when Ymir and Krista both walked up on either side of him.

      "Come eat with us," Ymir commanded.

      "O-oh. Uhm. Alright."

      "Ymir, be gentle." Krista laughed. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Do you want to?"

      "Yeah. That uhm... sounds good." Marco replied, glancing down at her. He didn't realize she was  _that_ short. They began walking toward the front of the school.

      "You say ' _uhm_ ' a lot," Ymir said, glancing over at Marco. "And you stutter. Is that a natural thing, or are you just nervous because it's your first day here?"

      "Ah, nerves," Marco replied with a short breathy laugh. "I-I'll get over it though. I'm still getting used to all of... uhm... this." He said, waving his hands to gesture towards his new environment. Ymir nodded.

      "By the way, we eat lunch with a couple other people. There's Jean, but he always takes his own route. And then there's Connie and Sasha- Oh! You're gonna love Sasha!" Krista suddenly got excited. "She's always so happy and up beat and she always seems to be either talking or eating." Krista giggled, thinking about their friend.

      "Or both at the same time," Ymir grumbled with a slightly disgusted look on her face. Marco laughed.

      They soon arrived at a pizza place across the street and Marco noticed a sign that advertised a special for kids who attended the school across the street. However, Marco still came up a bit short.

      "Hey uh, freckles," Ymir said, trying to catch Marco's attention who was looking between the menu and his wallet. "What kinda pizza do you like?"

      "Oh, ah, uhm," Marco stumbled. "N-no, I can buy my own pizza."

      "Please," Ymir snorted before looking back at the cashier. "We'll get a 15 inch cheese and a 12 inch pepperoni."

      "Yes ma'am," He smiled at her, taking her money and giving her back her change. "It'll be out in a couple of minutes."

      "See," Krista said, looking up at Marco as they stepped out of line to let the next person go. "Ymir and I always buy whole pizzas for the whole group, so you don't have to worry about buying your own food. Unless you really want to. Ymir's always been a little rough around the edges, so don't worry about her slight rudeness," she glanced up at the taller girl. Who rolled her eyes before knocking Krista slightly with her knee.

      "Oh, er.. thanks." Marco smiled at the short blonde.

      Soon, they had their pizzas and were on the way out of the store and were heading back towards the school across the street. When they arrived, they went into the lobby and in to a hall way Marco had never been in before. Sitting at the end of the hall way were 6 other people. Marco recognized one of them as Jean, leaned up against the wall staring down at his phone. As they approached, the voices became louder.

      "No way Sasha, I could totally kick your ass at Call of Duty, no questions about it!" One of the shorter boys from the group yelled.

      "Hah!" A taller brunette girl replied, pointing at the previously mentioned boy. "You wish, Springer! I could kick your ass all the way to China and back 3 times any day of the week!" She crossed her arms and turned away.

      "Ah hey!" Said a boy who looked similar to Krista who was standing sort of outside of the little group. "Krista and Ymir have come back with the pizza!" All of their heads snapped up to look at the approaching girls being followed by Marco.

      "And they've brought a friend!" The shorter boy responded. Now that Marco was closer, he could get a better look at all of them. There were three boys, including Jean. One of them, the one who looked like Krista, had big blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair with half of it pulled back into a small ponytail. The other was the boy yelling about Call Of Duty. He was a bit taller than the blonde kid, but not by much, and he had little to no hair on the top of his head. His eyes were wide and excited. The last boy was a very happy looking brunette kid. His eyes were green and he was looking around at everyone just smiling. It was a little off-putting, if Marco was being honest.

      And then there were two girls. One of them was the same height as the bald kid, and she had long black hair pulled back into a loose bun. She looked bored and only gave Marco a fleeting glance before returning her attention to the overly-happy boy. The other was the other girl mentioned before who was yelling at the bald boy. She had brown hair just past her shoulders and one side of it was tucked back behind on of her ears. She ran up to Ymir and the other two so fast Marco barely even registered it.

      "Ah!" Ymir pulled the pizza box above her head before the girl could get her hands on it. "Introductions first, pizza later." The girl leaned on Ymir's arm and pouted up at her but Ymir brushed her off and kept walking at the group. They finally approached and they all stopped walking, all eyes were on Marco except for Jean, who hadn't even looked up once, and bun girl.

      "Guys," Krista started, a sweet smile on her face. "This is Marco. He's new. He's in our art class and since it was right before lunch, we invited him to hang out with us." Everyone glanced quickly at Krista before returning their gazes to Marco. He smiled sheepishly and waved a small hello.

      The short bald kid approached him and held out a hand. "What's up Marco, the name's Connie, but everyone here calls me Springer. This," He nodded his head back at the excited brunette girl. "Is Sasha."

      "Yo," she smiled at him. He returned it.

      "These three," Connie looked back at the blonde boy, bun girl, and overly-happy kid. "Are Armin, Mikasa, and Eren. They're pretty much inseparable. I swear, they're joined at the hip or something." He laughed.

      "It's nice to meet you," Armin stepped forward to shake Marco's hand. He seemed super mature for their age and for such a short guy.

      "I think you're gonna fit in just fine here," Eren smiled at Marco. "You're a giant, just like Ymir." Ymir shot a glance at Eren who's eyes got wide and he took a step back.

      "And that," Connie pointed at the detached boy leaned against the wall. "Is-"

      "We've had our introductions." Jean cut him off crisply. Ouch.

      "Well," Connie looked back at him. "You could have been  _nicer_ about it." He walked over to Jean. "Sorry Connie," he started. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I've already met Marco, thank you though." Jean swatted at Connie's arm.

      "Alright, alright, enough of that," Ymir interrupted the fight she sensed coming. "Let's eat."

      Everyone dove into the pizza boxes taking the pieces of their liking, leaving Marco with two pieces of cheese. He only took one.

      "Here," Sasha said, picking up the last piece. She paused to swallow the food in her mouth after Ymir glared at her for talking with her mouth full. "You can have the last one," She offered it to Marco, but he felt awkward taking more than just one.

      "Uhm, ah, no, thank you," he smiled at her. "I'm good. Thank you though,"

      Sasha shrugged and took it for herself.

      "You need to eat too," Jean glanced up from his phone. He had two pieces stacked on top of one another.

      "Uh, well, I mean," Marco started, a blush creeping on to his face. "I just, I didn't uh... I didn't pay for it."

      "Neither did Sasha," he raised an eyebrow at her.

      "I will be laaaterrrr," she sang and every one groaned.

      "Well, I just-"

      "Well, I just," Jean mocked Marco, causing the taller boy to tense up. "Man, quit talking like that." He sneered and Ymir kicked him in the side of the leg. "Ow! Dude!"

      " _Dude,_ " Ymir mimicked him. "Don't be rude and I won't kick you."

      "I wasn't  _trying_ to be rude," Jean defended himself. "You didn't let me finish." He attempted to kick her back but she moved to quickly and he ended up kicking nothing which threw his balance off and he fell back against the wall. "Shit,"

      "Oh, no, it's okay," Marco laughed nervously. "I know, it's annoying. I-I'll get over.. it.. ah... soon... though." He slowed down, processing his words and internally cringing.

      Jean nodded and went back to his phone. Marco went back to his pizza and that was that.

~~~~~~

      A couple of weeks later and Marco had officially become part of the group. He'd already hung out with Sasha and Connie outside of school and Ymir and Krista after school once.

      He had learned a couple of things about the odd ball group:

  1. Krista and Ymir were dating.
  2. Mikasa, Eren, and Armin had been friends since kindergarten and Eren and Mikasa have dated a couple of times. They were currently not, but everyone expected they'd start back up again soon.
  3. Sasha and Connie have a 'friends with benefits' relationship and are  _very_ comfortable talking about it.
  4. Jean and Eren do  _not_ get along and will fight frequently.
  5. Armin and Krista are siblings.



      It was an interesting group to be apart of, but Marco really liked it. He'd never had friends like this before and it made his day-to-day life a little less boring.

      Although he really did like to hang out with everyone, he took an interest in Jean. Jean tried his hardest to push Marco away, but he kept being persistent and finally Jean broke and let Marco sit next to him at lunch one day.

      They were leaned up against a wall, Jean sat with his knees pulled to his chest and Marco sat with one of his feet tucked under the other knee of his extended leg. Jean mostly played on his phone, but Marco was glad to at least be sitting next to him.

      "So," Marco tried to make small talk. "What other classes are you in?"

      Jean sighed and put his phone down. "Calculus, World Religion, Geology, Advanced Literature, Band, and my other period is a free class."

      Marco's head span at how fast Jean spat those out.

      "Wait. You're a junior, right? Why are you in Calc already?"

      "I took Algebra 2 my freshman year." Jean replied, looking a little sheepish.

      "That's so cool, man," Marco marveled. "I couldn't never get into any advanced classes or anything. I tried once but they went too fast and I couldn't wrap my head around anything before they moved on and it was just a mess. He looked over at Jean who looked a little shocked at Marco's awe.

      "Oh, ah. Thanks," Jean looked down at his knees. "I guess." Marco smiled.

      "No problem."

      After that, Jean and Marco sat together pretty much every day at lunch. They even swapped numbers and started hanging out outside of school. Everyone took notice on how close they got and they started teasing them about it, in a joking way, of course.

      "How much, you wanna bet," Connie said one day at lunch while everyone was having their own conversations. Everyone looked at him. "Those two," he pointed at Jean and Marco. "are probably gonna date."

      Marco's heart stopped.

      "D-d-d-da... _date_!?" Jean screeched. Everyone laughed as Marco buried his face in his knees. He felt his whole face and neck heat up. His breathing picked up pace. _  
_

_'Why would he say something like that!?I'_ Marco thought to himself. ' _Dammit, now it's gonna be awkward and oh my god._ '

      Ymir tossed a pencil at Connie's head. "Oi!" She barked. "Knock that off, you're embarrassing the both of 'em."

      Marco felt a hand on the back of his head and he looked up to see Ymir crouched down in front of him.

      "Don't worry about them," she smiled. "They're just kidding."

      Marco looked over to see Jean looking down, scratching the back of his head, his face flushed a light pink color.

      "W-whatever," he mumbled. "Too tall for me to date any way." He got up and walked to a trash can, throwing away something he had in his hand before marching away. Everyone threw something at Connie.

~~~~~~

      A couple of days later after every one had forgotten about the dating thing, Jean and Marco decided they would be the ones to go get the pizza and they left for the pizza place right after art. On their way over there, Jean stopped Marco by yanking on his sleeve.

      "Hey, uh, gentle giant," Jean said softly. That was his nick name for Marco since the top of his head only just barely reached the bottom of Marco's neck. "I gotta talk to you about something."

      "What is it, shorty?" Marco questioned. His heart rate picked up.  _'oh no,'_ he thought.  _'this could be bad.'_

"R-remember a couple a days ago..." he paused, looking down at the ground. "When uh... when Connie... said that... that thing..."

      It took Marco a couple of seconds, but he manage to recall it. His face flushed red again.

      "Uh... y-yeah..." Marco looked over towards a tree a couple hundred feet away from them. "What about it?"

      "Well ah... I was uhm... I was wondering.. if like... maybe..." He stopped and took a deep breath, balling his hands into fists. " _I was wondering if maybe you wantedtogooutonadatesometimemaybeidon'tknow._ " The words came out of Jean's mouth at lightning speed, so fast that Marco barely understood what he'd said.

       _A date?_

      "A date?" Marco said out loud. Jean nodded slightly and took a step back from Marco, still looking down at the ground. Marco mulled over the words in his head for a second. ' _He's... he's asking me.. on... on a date?_ ' Marco laughed a bit, causing Jean to look up at Marco, a worried look on his face.

      "A date..." Jean repeated nervously.

      "A date," Marco said, laughing again, looking down at the ground. He quickly looked back at Jean again though and smiled a big smile. "Sure," he said, trying to act cool. It wasn't working though, as a big goofy grin had now slid onto his face. Jean's jaw dropped slightly.

      "W-wait. Really?" Jean's eyes widened. Marco laughed. "Oh, uhm. Cool...?" Jean didn't know what to say now. He hadn't planned ahead this far, Marco assumed.

      "Cool," Marco said smiling. "Yeah, really cool."

      The next couple moments suffocated them with an awkward feeling that hung in the air between them.

      "Come on," Jean mumbled, turning once again toward the pizza place. "Let's go get pizza." He grabbed Marco's sweater sleeve and started dragging him along.

      "Man, you're short, but you're strong," Marco laughed.

      "Oh no," Jean groaned. "You aren't gonna make short jokes at me the whole time we're dating, are you?" He refused to look back at Marco, but Marco was smiling like an idiot behind him.

      "Oh yeah," Marco laughed. "Get ready for jokes that are gonna last a lot longer than you're growth spurt did." Jean turned around and landed a punch right into Marco's chest.

      "Shut up, bean pole," he grumbled. "Come. On. Let's. Go. Get. Pizza." He started yanking on Marco's sleeve again. "I'm starving."

      "You know," Marco said, jumping in front of Jean but continuing to walk backwards. "They say hunger is normal for a growing young boy."

      "Oh my god," Jean pushed passed Marco who had to stop walking and hold his stomach to laugh. "Keep cracking jokes and I'm gonna smack you,"

      "If you could reach my faaaace," Marco sang at him. That one got him and Jean started laughing.

      "Knock that off," He laughed lightly, a smile rushing to his face along with a small blush.

~~~~~~

      Marco and Jean sat very close at lunch that day.

**Author's Note:**

> I could not figure out how to wrap this up lord save me.  
> In case you've been keeping up with my other two height difference AUs ('Coffee and Stepstools' and 'Frosted Flakes Aren't Really My Thing,' then you'll know that I've been getting these ideas from a text post on tumblr and I decided I needed to link you guys to that. So here's that: http://promptsfordays.tumblr.com/post/116244449490/height-difference-aus (it's the original post). You guys can also feel free to leave me one shot or full fic suggestions in the comments because I'm just now getting back into writing and I need some ideas to fuel me. Thanks and I'm glad you've been enjoying these.


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